Every year, thousands of students and teachers gather to share their passion for history in the National History Day Contest, which places students and their research projects into a friendly competition. Hosted by National History Day (NHD), a non-profit educational organization, students compete at the local and state level, where finally the top students then advance to the National Contest at the University of Maryland at College Park. This year, Sebastian Pizzini from Puerto Rico, placed first in the Senior Division: Individual Documentary category with his original work, Heroes: African Americans in World War I. US World War I Centennial Commission intern Joshua Baker interviewed Sebastian to find out how he became interested in WWI, how he settled on his winning project, and what the NHD competition was like.

Since 2017, the Brooke USA organization has put the spotlight on the services of American horses and Mules in World War I through their very popular Horse Heroes site here on the United States World War I Centennial Commission web site. As the commemoration period for the centennial of World War I winds down, we wanted to follow up with the Brooke team to review everything the organization has done to put a well-deserved spotlight on the horses and mules that supported the war effort of the United States and its Allies a century ago, and also talk about the Brooke mission to support the 21st Century Horse Heroes that make life better for people in the developing world.  Brooke USA Executive Director Emily Dulin, and Brooke USA's Horse Heroes Special Project Volunteer Jo Ellen Hayden, took the time to answer a few questions for us.

"In April of 2017, I received a message through my genealogical service account from a man I didn’t know named Johannes Heibel. I immediately noted the highlighted link below the message that read “View the match.” Needless to say, I was intrigued to have been contacted by a relative whose name I did not recognize. However, the message I was about to read would lead to a family reunion that I never would have imagined." From that intriguing beginning, David Harstin maps out a trans-Atlantic detective story, 100 years in the making, that ends up connecting a German boy born in 1920 with an American family in Tennessee. Click here to read the entire story of how 21st Century genealogical sleuthing solved a World War I family mystery a century later.

The American Legion George L. Giles Post #87 will celebrate its 100-year anniversary Aug. 17 and 18 in Chicago. For 93 of those years, the post has kept this important history alive by leading an annual Veterans Day parade to the Victory Monument. That sculpture (above) was built in 1927 to honor the Eighth Regiment of the Illinois National Guard — an African American unit. “At the time we formed the post in 1919, this was the only place that we were allowed to meet and discuss what had happened in our life,” said Cmdr. Ashley Shine Jr., 73. “This 100-year anniversary is quite a celebration.” Click here to read the full store of the Post's hero namesake George Giles, and how his best friend Earl B. Dickerson — a man who went on to break important racial barriers — founded the George L. Giles Post #87, making sure his friend’s name would never be forgotten.

A week of events honoring the hometown hero of Hiawatha, Kansas, came to a close on August 3 with a procession through downtown Hiawatha led by the Homer White American Legion Post No. 66. Homer White week honors the World War I fallen soldier killed in action in Germany and laid to rest on Aug. 3, 1919, following the end of the war in late 1918. The 100th anniversary of his funeral and the recent 100th anniversary of the end of hostilities in the Great War, which raged from July 1914 to November 1918, makes this an especially meaningful time for the Hiawatha legionnaires, who strive to memorialize the conflict in a world where no World War I veterans still live. Click here to read more about this centennial observance, and how today's veterans feel connected to those of a war one century ago.

When Alison Jones Webb and her husband went off to see the movies at the St. Lawrence Arts Center in Portland, Maine, they weren't particularly thinking about World War I. But the movie was “The Big Parade,” a 1925 war drama that was one of the most successful movies of the silent era. As she watched the movie, Webb found myself thinking about Garth Wise, her maternal grandmother’s half brother, who fought in World War I, and a certain America flag that "doesn’t belong in my basement any longer." Click here to read the entire story of Garth Wise, the 48-star flag that once draped his coffin, and the "sense of responsibility to honor his memory as a soldier" that found a new home for the flag.

Wars profoundly change a nation's relationships with other governments and often its own domestic way of life. Far from the battlefields, the First World War incidentally affected what Americans ate and how they thought about food. After the US entered the war in April 1917, a massive national conservation effort began on the home front to save the most substantial and nutritious food for troops fighting in Europe. Voluntary programs with pledge cards distributed to families initiated "Meatless Mondays," "Wheatless Wednesdays" and other programs. Writing in the Quincy, IL Herald-Whig newspaper, Joseph Newkirk looks at how the large scale national efforts to provide food for American soldiers fighting in trenches and fields of Europe affected the people of small town America when they sat down for dinner.

The City of Duluth hosted a special ribbon-cutting ceremony on August 3 to celebrate the new World War I memorial at Memorial Park. The memorial was originally made in 1928 for the 22 West Duluthians who served and died in the war. At the time, there were 23 ash trees planted with small plaques that were engraved with the name of each soldier. They were placed on the foot of each tree. The 23rd marker was for the unknown war veteran who died. After many years, the memorial had damage. Local leaders and community members said it was time for an upgrade. In May, construction was started to renovate the memorial. Click here to read about (and watch video of)  the upgraded Memorial that honors the names of the 22 soldiers who died in line of duty during the war along with Duluth’s 167 Gold Star men and women.

The American Legion, The New Bern Historical Society, and the Craven County Department of Recreation and Parks have partnered to update the World War I Monument at the Craven County Courthouse. The New Bern Historical Society says the goal is to update the WWI monument that has stood on the courthouse grounds since 1944. The update has two parts: to clean the 75-year-old obelisk and to add the names of Craven County residents who were not originally listed. The updated monument will be unveiled to the public in September. Click here to read more about this North Carolina memorial restoration project that coincides with the 100th anniversary of the founding of the American Legion.

On July 17, a folded flag was found in the middle of the road in Prince George's, inside of a shattered glass display case. Navy veteran Tom Jarrett picked the flag up, knowing it had to mean something to someone. Washington, DC television station ABC7 ran his story in an attempt to help find the owner. And the right person was watching: William Holley's oldest daughter. She immediately called her dad. 79-year-old Holley had inherited the flag after the death of his wife's uncle, WWI veteran Marcellus Herod, in the early 1980s. It was the memorial flag from Herod's casket. Click here to read more about how the military treasure was lost, and watch moving video of the military ceremony reuniting the flag with the World War I veteran's family.

Michael Tudino led an adventurous life that took him from the small Italian town of Sant'Ambrogio sul Garigliano to the jungles of Brazil, the textile factories of Industrial New England, and the front lines of World War I. On a warm summer weekend last month in Warwick, Rhode Island, roots that the man probably never imagined to have planted culminated in a family reunion that spanned five generations and included as many as 70 members of the family that came to be because of Tudino’s marriage to Teresa Bianco. Click here to read more about the interesting life that Tudino led, his harrowing experiences in World War I, and how his legacy was felt in the gathering of so many people who owe their very lives to his own.

The Michigan WW1 Centennial Commission has nominated Major General George O. Squier the National Aviation Hall of Fame. Squier made a tremendous impact on early military aviation. He was the pioneer in military aviation, making the U.S. Army leaders in this field until the World War 1. He also established Langley Field which served as a research facility for civilian and military aviation and eventually space travel. Click here to read the full story of this World War I hero and scientist whose work in and after the war continues to affect what you hear and see every day.

In August 4th's edition of the World War I Centennial News Podcast, Episode 134, host Theo Mayer spoke with Dr. Nancy Gentile Ford. She is the author of the book Americans All! Foreign-born Soldiers in World War I. Using the voluminous original research materials for that book which she has accumulated, Dr. Ford, a professor at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania where she teaches 20th century American military cultural and political history, created the Americans All! web site on the U.S. World War I centennial Commission web site.  Click here to read the entire interview, and find out how the book came to be written, how the web site came to be built, and the lessons about WWI and America that came out of all of her research.

The WW1 Centennial News Podcast is about WW1 THEN: 100 years ago this week, and it's about WW1 NOW: News and updates about the centennial and the commemoration. 

Available on our web site, iTunes, Google Play, Podbean, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio on Demand.  Spotify  listen on Youtube. New - Comment and ask questions via twitter @TheWW1podcast

Episode #134
Highlights:American Philanthropy & WWI

Host - Theo Mayer
100 Years Ago: American Philanthropy and WWI - Host | @ 02:00

A Century of the Rockefeller Foundation - David Rockefeller Jr. | @ 09:20

Commission News: Focus on the Memorial - Host | @ 17:00

Remembering Veterans: Americans All - Nancy Gentile Ford | @ 19:10

Articles & Posts: Weekly Dispatch - Host | @ 30:40

A man is only missing if he is forgotten.

Monday's MIA this week is Corporal William E. Babinger. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on September 9, 1891, William Edward Babinger was one of 4 children born to Lucy and Charles Babinger, who later moved the family to Detroit, Michigan. It was there, while working as a day laborer, that the brown hair and brown eyed William registered for the draft on June 5, 1917. Upon receiving his call, he was inducted on October 2, 1917 and sent to Camp Custer to train with the 85th Division of the ‘national’ (draft) army, where he was assigned to the 339th Infantry regiment. Dreaming of service in France, the 339th was nevertheless destined for something much more divertive – service in Russia as part of the allied effort at helping hold the ‘white Russian’ line against the Soviet Russians.

A Corporal with Headquarters Company at the time of his death, he was at first listed as being wounded and having died October 2, 1918, then as accidentally killed on that date. However, further inquiries ascertained that he and three others of his unit (who also remain MIA) were in fact killed on September 29, 1918 near the town of Obozerskaya and buried in temporary graves nearby. They remained unrecovered when the 339th left Russia in June, 1919.

A 1929 expedition by the VFW, though resulting in the return of 86 sets of remains, did not turn up Babinger or the other three from his regiment. However, a 1934 return expedition (organized after then President Roosevelt officially recognized the Soviet government), resulted in several sets of remains being brought in by the Russians from known American graves. Two of these sets, recovered on August 8, 1934 from Obozerskaya, were brought in from a spot of logged over land opposite the local railway station water tower and some 100 yards east of it, to be compared with dental profiles of the four missing men from HQ CO/339th Infantry. None were a match.

The story doesn’t end there – over the next three weeks we will be taking a look at the cases of the three other men to gain a better perspective of this particular situation, at which time we will be better able to make a determination as to dispositions.

And how did we come about this much detail concerning Corporal Babinger’s case? Through the valued donations made by YOU! This past week saw us back in St, Louis digging through the paperwork needed to make determinations in these 100 year old ‘cold cases’; a trip that was made possible by contributions that continue to come in by individuals with enough care and concern for our missing Doughboys. Time doesn’t dim their deeds – only failing memories. Want to help us keep those memories alive? Consider making a donation to Doughboy MIA and help us make a full accounting of the 4,423 American service personnel still listed as missing in action from WW1. It takes only a moment and your tax deductible contribution can be as large as you want or as small as $10.00 on our ‘Ten for Them’ program. Your contribution will help us make a full accounting of all 4,523 US MIA’s from WW1 and keeps these lost men from being forgotten. Make your tax deductible donation now, with our thanks.  Remember: A man is only missing if he is forgotten.

U.S. WWI Victory
lapel pin

Proudly wearing the World War 1 U.S. Victory lapel pin is a meaningful way to honor the contributions made for our country one hundred years ago. Soldiers received Victory buttons upon their discharge from service in “the Great War”. Hand cast in jeweler’s alloy and hand finished in a satin bronze patina, the design features the star, symbolizing victory, honor and glory; a wreath of evergreen laurel leaves symbolizing triumph over death; and the U.S. insignia, clearly identifying the country served. Measures 1” diameter.

 A portion of proceeds from the sale of this item goes towards funding the building of the national World War One Memorial in Washington, D.C. A Certificate of Authenticity as Official Merchandise of the United States World War One Centennial is included. 

This and many other items are available as Official Merchandise of the United States World War One Centennial.

Pershing Sponsors

Lt. Col. (ret.) Jennifer Pritzker (left), founder of the Pritzker Military Museum and Library in Chicago, salutes the color guard as they retire the colors following a rededication of the Victory Monument in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood. The Illinois National Guard, the Pritzker Military Museum and Library, the 8th Infantry Association, the Chicago Military Academy at Bronzeville, the World War I Centennial Commission, Friends of the Victory Monument Memorial and several dignitaries took part in the rededication of the Monument honoring the World War I service of the Illinois National Guard’s storied all African-American 8th Infantry Regiment. Click here to read more about the event, and the legacy of valor that the regiment blazed across three wars in America's service.

As the U.S. World War I Centennial Commission shifts its mission to focus exclusively on the construction of the new National World War I Memorial in Washington, DC,  there is also a shift in staffing. Among those who will, sadly, depart the Commission team is long-term Director of Public Affairs Chris Isleib. Isleib has been with the Commission on long-term loan from the U.S. National Archives, and will return to the Archives on the first of August. Chris's trademark contributions to the Commission web site were multi-question interviews via email with a wide assortment of individuals inside, outside, and around the Commission, and across the world. As what may be (but we hope isn't) his final contribution, Chris took the opportunity to interview one more important person about his tenure, and his personal experiences as part of the Centennial Commission team—himself!

World War I Centennial Commission intern Joshua Haynes conducted an interview with Pär Sundström, the lead bassist for Sabaton, a Swedish power metal band that focuses on writing songs about military history. They have just completed their most recent album, The Great War, which explores various themes and events from World War I. Clearly, this album means a lot to Pär and the rest of Sabaton as well as their fans. The band takes great pride in its ability to combine the value of history with the thrill of heavy metal, developing a strong fan base across the world.  Click here to read what Pär had to say about how the The Great War came to be made, and Sabaton's oeuvre.

America in the summer of 1919 ran red with blood from racial violence, and yet today, 100 years later, not many people know it even happened. It was branded "Red Summer" because of the bloodshed and amounted to some of the worst white-on-black violence in U.S. history. Beyond the lives and family fortunes lost, it had far-reaching repercussions, contributing to generations of black distrust of white authority. But it also galvanized blacks to defend themselves and their neighborhoods with fists and guns; reinvigorated civil rights organizations like the NAACP and led to a new era of activism; gave rise to courageous reporting by black journalists; and influenced the generation of leaders who would take up the fight for racial equality decades later. Click here to read more about how "Red Summer" in the aftermath of World War I still resonates a century later.

Walker Jagoe’s passion for aviation began in 1910 when he was 14 years old. He and fellow Denton High School student Robert Storrie built a biplane glider in Jagoe’s yard. Joining the Army in 1917, Jagoe was among America’s first group of pilots in the 135th Aero Squadron, nicknamed the “Liberty Squadron.” He flew alongside celebrated pilots like Eddie Rickenbacker and future generals Carl Spaatz and Benjamin Foulois. Click here to read more about the Texas native who flew to amazing heights in World War I, which were only recognized ten years after the war's end.

An antique window that can only truly be appreciated from inside the Washington County Courthouse in Bristol, VA was installed a century ago in honor of local soldiers who fought in World War I. In March 1919, the Washington County Board of Supervisors approved the manufacture and installation of a one-of-a-kind window to honor the service of local soldiers and their role in World War I. The window — made of Tiffany-stained glass — was installed on July 4, 1919, as part of the town’s Independence Day celebration. Click here to read more about the remarkable window created as “a tribute to our boys who left the country for the recent war and to the ladies who did their bit to make the world safe for democracy.”

The Treaty of Versailles was signed in Versailles, France, on June 28, 1919. Says historian Victor David Hanson (left), "Neither the winners nor the losers of World War I were happy with the formal conclusion to the bloodbath." Noting that "The traditional criticism of the treaty is that the victorious French and British democracies did not listen to the pleas of leniency from progressive American President Woodrow Wilson," Hanson asks "A century later, how true is the traditional explanation of the Versailles Treaty?" Click here to read the entire thoughtful and contrarian perspective on how "The failure of Versailles remains a tragic lesson about the eternal rules of war and human nature itself -- 100 years ago this summer."

In July 29th's edition of the World War I Centennial News Podcast, Episode 133, host Theo Mayer spoke with U.S. World War I Centennial Commission Executive Director Dan Dayton about the progress of the national memorial, the newly renamed memorial fundraising arm, and how World War I continues to resonate in American society.  Click here to read the entire interview with the man who has spent the last half a decade immersed in nurturing the commemoration of World War I.

In July 29th's edition of the World War I Centennial News Podcast, Episode 133, host Theo Mayer spoke with Dr. Matthew Naylor. Dr. Naylor is an accomplished non-profit executive, a World War I Centennial Commissioner, and Chief Executive of the National World War I Museum and Memorial in Kansas City, MO. Click here to learn more about Dr. Naylor, the National Memorial and Museum, and how it complements the future memorial in Washington, D.C. (and vice versa).

The WW1 Centennial News Podcast is about WW1 THEN: 100 years ago this week, and it's about WW1 NOW: News and updates about the centennial and the commemoration.  Available on our web site, iTunes, Google Play, Podbean, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio on Demand.  Spotify  listen on Youtube. New - Comment and ask questions via twitter @TheWW1podcast

Episode #133
Highlights: WWI Remembered in KC & DC

Host - Theo Mayer

How Treaties Are Created - Host | @ 02:23

Food Sales at Post Offices - Host | @ 08:50

National WWI Museum and Memorial in KC - Dr. Matthew Naylor | @ 10:55

Doughboy Foundation - Dan Dayton | @ 21:20

Born in the Month of July - Dave Kramer | @ 31:30 

Articles & Posts: Weekly Dispatch - Host | @ 34:35

The regular Doughboy MIA will not be published this week as Managing Director Robert Laplander prepares for a major research trip to the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis this week to dig deep into some of the cases we've been working on. 

This was ONLY possible through YOUR generous donations! Thanks to all of you who gave to remember those men who "disappeared from the scene" over 100 years ago, the Doughboy MIA team is able to move another step forward in solving the mystery of what happened to some of these men - and possibly toward finding them. Without YOUR support we wouldn't be here, plain and simple. Doughboy MIA is an all volunteer, non-profit 501(c)3 organization that receives NO funding from the US government. We are supported only through private contributions, like YOURS.

In the coming months, you will be able to see more evidence of what your contributions are doing, as Doughboy MIA will begin publishing The Silent Sentinel, a once monthly e-newsletter in which will be brought forth articles and reports to keep all of you informed of our doings. The MIA of the week that you have come to look forward to will also continue at the same time. 

There are good changes coming to Doughboy MIA; changes we have been working toward for a long time and now, and through the generous contributions made to the organization thus far, we can move ever forward toward growing these changes even more! So please, keep those donations coming in! Visit www.ww1cc.org/mia to make yours today. The choice of size is up to you, whether you wish to donate BIG or contribute to our 'Ten For Them' program (ten bucks... who can't afford ten bucks?), whatever you choose know that EVERY dollar you send goes toward our mission: finding out what happened to these men and perhaps doing even more...

Either way, know that your contribution helps realize our motto: A Man Is Only Missing If He Is Forgotten. And you haven't let them be forgotten thus far - so don't stop now! Your contributions ARE making all the difference.

"Lest We Forget: The Great War"

World War I Prints from the Pritzker Military Museum & Library 

As the United States commemorates the centennial of World War I, one of the nation’s premier military history institutions pays tribute to the Americans who served and the allies they fought beside to defeat a resourceful enemy with a lavishly illustrated book.  It is an official product of the United States World War One Centennial Commission. The story of WWI is told through the memorable art it spawned―including posters from nations involved in the conflict―and a taut narrative account of the war’s signal events, its major personalities and its tragic consequences; and the timely period photographs that illustrate the awful realities of this revolutionary conflict. Most importantly, this book is a tribute to those who served in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and what would become the Air Force. Proceeds from the sale of this book help fund the new National WW1 Memorial in Washington, DC. 

This and many other items are available as Official Merchandise of the United States World War One Centennial.

Pershing Sponsors

Our Commission's recent commemoration efforts in Versailles, France put us in touch with some friends whom we haven't seen in a while -- the members of the world-famous American Legion Post #1 in Paris. These Legion members stand on a long tradition, one that celebrates a direct line to our World War I veterans. Post #1 is the first, and the oldest, American Legion post outside of the United States, and was created by people who had just seen the Great War end months before. Since that time, they have fulfilled a unique and special role in representing our American veterans in France, and throughout Europe. Vice Commander Bryan Schell took some time to tell us about his special post, their history, and their current activities.

The U.S. World War One Centennial Commission has announced the “A.E.F. Memorial Corps” (American Expeditionary Forces Memorial Corps) to recognize Veterans, Military, Patriotic, Historical, Service, and Community organizations that raise funds to help build and provide ongoing support for the new National World War I Memorial in Washington, DC. The A.E.F. Memorial Corps will induct national, state, or local organizations (or any local chapters such as American Legion or VFW posts) which hold fundraisers for the benefit of the national World War I Memorial. Those Legion and VFW Posts which have already made donations to help build the Memorial will be inducted at the organizations' respective national conventions this summer. Click here to find out more about the A.E.F. Memorial Corps, and how your organization can become a member.

The fourth annual Camp Doughboy World War I History Weekend comes to Governors Island National Monument on September 14 and 15. Each day will bring living history, reenactors, authors, experts, vintage vehicles, and animals. This is the largest free public WWI exhibition in the United States. Reenactors representing the Allies and Central Powers—as well as civilians in Edwardian-era attire—are invited living history participants. The centennial of the service members returning to Governors Island is in 2019 and this group of volunteer reenactors will share the story of WWI participants. Click here to learn more about Camp Doughboy 2019, and the planned events and activities in September.

Richard Mize is pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church in Oklahoma City. Last weekend, he helped give belated honors to Army Private Ulysses Grant Moore, a century after he served in World War I, and 55 years after he died. As Mize writes, "Why such honors were overlooked, and why this marker never made it here to his burial site are unknown." Click here to read the entire story of how 55 years after the fact, "It took a compelling series of discoveries that started by happenstance" to finally deliver to Private Moore the much delayed and much deserved honors from his nation for his service in World War I.

At the end of World War I, Germans could hardly recognize their country. Up to 3 million Germans, including 15 percent of its men, had been killed. Germany had been forced to become a republic instead of a monarchy, and its citizens were humiliated by their nation’s bitter loss. Even more humiliating were the terms of Germany’s surrender. World War I’s victors blamed Germany for beginning the war, committing horrific atrocities and upending European peace with secretive treaties. But most embarrassing of all was the punitive peace treaty Germany had been forced to sign. The Treaty of Versailles didn’t just blame Germany for the war—it demanded financial restitution for the whole thing, to the tune of 132 billion gold marks, or about $269 billion today. How—and when—could Germany possibly pay its debt? Click here to read more about how the process took 92 years and another World War to be completed.

"Fillmore County remembers its history," said Nathan Pike, the Olmsted County veteran’s service officer and emcee of last week's celebration of the restoration of the World War I Memorial at the Fillmore County Fairgrounds entrance. The structure was built 100 years ago, erected to honor soldiers returning from World War I. "There were over 1,000 residents of Fillmore County that enlisted or were drafted into service during the first World War," said Pike. "Forty-eight of them were killed in action, and they did not return to Fillmore County." Click here to read more about the restoration project, and how Fillmore County remembers its citizens who served in WWI.

In 1918 George Dilboy was killed on a battlefield near Belleau, France after fighting so courageously that he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, America’s highest medal for bravery. Dilboy was the first Greek-American soldier who fell in the line of duty. The Greek-American’s conspicuous heroism was so outstanding that he was recognized and honored by three US presidents. Woodrow Wilson signed the authorization awarding Dilboy the Medal of Honor, Warren G. Harding brought his remains back to be buried with honors at Arlington National Cemetery, and Calvin Coolidge presided at his final burial there. Click here to read more about the life and heroism of George Dilboy.

The American Legion in Milford, Michigan is celebrating 100 years since the end of World War I and the birth of America’s largest veteran’s organization. The Ernest F. Oldenburg American Legion Post 216 held an open house last weekend. Around 1945, Henry Ford sold the property at 510 W. Commerce Road in Milford to the American Legion with the stipulation that the post be named after his friend Ernest F. Oldenburg, a soldier from the Milford area who served with the 32nd Red Arrow Division and was killed in action in France in 1918. In 1946, the new building opened. Click here to read more about the World War I centennial commemoration activities by American Legion Post 216.

The WW1 Centennial News Podcast is about WW1 THEN: 100 years ago this week, and it's about WW1 NOW: News and updates about the centennial and the commemoration.  Available on our web site, iTunes, Google Play, Podbean, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio on Demand.  Spotify  listen on Youtube.  Comment and ask questions via twitter @TheWW1podcast

Episode #132
Highlights: Red Summer Riots 1919

100 Years Ago: Red Summer Riots - Dr. Jeffrey Sammons | @02:10

Great War Project: Retrospective - Mike Shuster | @15:15

Introducing the A.E.F. Memorial Corps - Host | @25:15

New Digital Download: "Hello Girls" Single - Host | @27:35

Articles & Posts: Weekly Dispatch - Host | @31:00

This week we bring you something different from Doughboy MIA. 

Many have wanted to know the breakdown of missing; those on land as opposed to those lost or buried at sea (L/BAS), the number of unknowns, etc. Over the last few months we have worked hard at scrutinizing the list and crunching the numbers in order to detail those who were L/BAS, especially as no complete or accurate record of them was ever made available.  So, in answer to the questions that come in, here are the numbers by cemetery and then in totals:

Aisne-Marne Cemetery = Unknown burials - 249 Tablets of the Missing - 1060

Brookwood Cemetery = Unknown burials - 41 Tablets of the Missing - 564 (All on the Tablets are L/BAS.)

Flanders Fields Cemetery = Unknown burials - 21 Tablets of the Missing - 43

Meuse-Argonne Cemetery = Unknown burials - 486 Tablets of the Missing - 954

Oise-Aisne Cemetery = Unknown burials - 601 Tablets of the Missing - 241

Somme Cemetery = Unknown burials - 138 Tablets of the Missing - 333 (Note that one Unknown grave at Somme contains seven sets of remains.)

St. Mihiel Cemetery = Unknown burials - 137 Tablets of the Missing - 284

Suresnes Cemetery = Unknown burials - 6 Tablets of the Missing - 974 (The number of missing are all L/BAS and includes 14 names believed to be L/BAS but for which further research is required.)

Total (Total Missing in Action from the war, no matter the reason) = 4,453

Unknown burials = 1,679

Subtracting the Unknown burials from the MIA's leaves 2,774 unrecovered soldier dead.

Subtracting the L/BAS total of 1,538 from the unrecovered total leaves 1,236 unrecovered soldiers dead that remain out on the battlefields.

Our goal at Doughboy MIA is to make an accounting of all these men. Over the coming years we will be researching each man individually to make a determination as to what happened to him and publishing a report. We have already been able to get several together thanks to the contributions made to our organization, which just goes to show that with your assistance we are making a difference!

Want to help? Come on over to the Doughboy MIA website at www.ww1cc.org/mia and make a tax deductible donation to our non-profit organization. Every dollar you give IS making a difference! And remember:

A man is only missing if he is forgotten.

Robert J. Laplander
Directing Manager for Doughboy M.I.A.

2018 World War I Centennial Silver Dollar Sets

No longer available from the U.S. Mint!

These Official World War I Centennial Silver Dollar Sets are only available here on the WWI Centennial Commission's online gift shop.

NOTE: Each set comes with 2 separate coins. Each set will accompany the Official Doughboy Design alongside your choice of Military Branch. 

"The United Mint certifies that this coin is a genuine 2018 World War I Centennial Silver Dollar, minted and issued in accordance with legislation passed by Congress and signed by the President on December 16, 2014, as Public Law 113-212. This coin was minted by the Department of the Treasury, United States Mint, to commemorate the centennial of America's involvement in World War I. This coin is legal tender of the United States."

A portion of the proceeds from your purchase will help build the new National World War I Memorial in Washington, DC.

This and many other items are available as Official Merchandise of the United States World War One Centennial.

Pershing Sponsors

"What possibly could this rural county have done to contribute to World War I efforts?" While spending time as an intern at the United States World War I Centennial Commission this summer, Cady Hammer decided to answer this very question. While "I never paid much attention to the history of Tompkins County besides what I knew from family stories," said Hammer, she decided to use draft cards from two of her  relatives as a jumping off point. "What I found." says Hammer, "amazed me." Click here to read the entire article about how a search that began on a whim revealed a huge legacy of WWI service in a small county and famous university of New York.

National History Day (NHD) is excited to be offering scholarship for our World War I webinar series in the fall. LEGACIES OF WORLD WAR I, the World War I Webinar series in the fall, is offering free tuition and credit for two teachers from every NHD Affiliate. Through this program, teachers can earn a certificate of professional development hours or three graduate extension credit units from the University of San Diego. Applications for a scholarship will be accepted through July 30, 2019.  Click here to read more about this exciting opportunity for educators nationwide.

It was not until April 1917, that the United States entered the First World War beside the Allied powers against the Central powers. Despite America’s delayed entry into the war, young Americans had gone north of the border to Canada to join the war effort. Canada joined the war in August 1914 as part of the British Empire, and as such, began to mobilize young troops and send them overseas as part of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (C.E.F.). U.S. World War I Centennial Commission intern Josh Baker notes that after the war ended, "there needed to be a special way which the Canadian government could thank all those young Americans who fought within Canadian units" during the First World War. Click to read more about how this spirit of gratitude led to the Canadian Cross of Sacrifice at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, DC.

City Officials of Albany, NY City observed the third Henry Johnson Day last month. The Day was established to honor World War I hero Sgt. Henry Johnson on the 102nd anniversary of his enlistment. The Albany man was part of the all-black 369th Infantry Regiment and his actions in May 1918 posthumously earned him the Medal of Honor. President Barack Obama bestowed the highest military honor an American soldier can receive on June 2, 2015, in a White House ceremony. The third annual Henry Johnson Award for Distinguished Community Service was awarded at the ceremony. Click here to read more about Sgt Henry Johnson, the day and award named in his honor, and the 2019 recipient of that honor.

An area in Maryland that’s home to abandoned World War I-era steamships has been designated a new national marine sanctuary. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the state of Maryland and Charles County announced the Mallows Bay-Potomac River National Marine Sanctuary on Monday. It contains more than 100 abandoned steamships and vessels that were built as part of the nation’s engagement in World War I. Mallows Bay is known for its “Ghost Fleet,” including partly submerged remains of more than 100 wooden steamships that were built in response to threats from World War I-era German U-boats. Click here to read more about the "Ghost Fleet" from World War I, and the process that is underway to finalize the NOAA designation.

Megan Kopp, a Milton Hershey High School Social Studies in Hershey, PA was one of just a handful of teachers chosen out of hundreds to travel to France through a program by National History Day (NHD). They celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Treaty of Versailles, and each teacher developed a new lesson plan to be used by teachers across the country. The lesson plan will be published by National History Day in the fall. The NHD program is sponsored by the United States World War I Centennial Commission and the Pritzker Military Museum and Library.  Click here to read more about Kopp's passion for history, and her family history of military service, including her own, and watch video from a local TV station.

To remember the courage and sacrifice of the exceptional American women who served in World War I, the Michigan Military Heritage Museum, which has a unique collection of WWI Women artifacts, will be presenting a special WWI Women display at its "2019 World War One Day" event on August 10, 2019. The display will feature stories of women like Nellie M. Dingley (left), who joined the U.S. Army Nurse Corps and volunteered to serve in France with the New York Roosevelt Hospital's Mobile Operating Unit.  Click here to read more about Nellie Dingley and the August event at the Michigan Military Heritage Museum.

University College London (UCL) Institute of Education, friend and partner to the World War I Centennial Commission, has a remarkable new WWI-themed podcast series that is worth checking out. Working with Chrome Radio, Sir Hew Strachan, Simon Bendry and Catriona OliphantI have begun work on a "Peacemaking in Paris" podcast series, in which Hew Strachan reflects on the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 and its legacy. Click here to read more about this new WWI podcast, and find out where you can download the episodes.

Joseph Nowinski, a social studies teacher at Almond-Bancroft school in Portage County, Wisconsin, was one of 18 teachers nationwide selected to research and deliver a eulogy of a fallen hero in France during the 100th commemoration of World War I this June. That hero was Sylvester Machinski who was born in Wisconsin and fought in World War I. To this day relatives of this hero still live in Portage County. Nowinski was participating in Memorializing the Fallen, a teacher professional development program from National History Day and sponsored by the United States World War I Centennial Commission. Click here to read more about Nowinski's discovery of a hometown hero, and watch video from the local TV station.

Hot Springs Village resident Dan Boehmke gave a detailed, fascinating presentation about his father’s World War I service, taken from personal letters and other research. His father, Edward C. Boehmke (left), served in a Wisconsin National Guard unit that eventually was sent to Europe in 1918. Edward boarded the SS Tuscania for the trip overseas Jan. 28, 1918. As it neared the Scottish coast, the ship was torpedoed, and 260 troops lost their lives--but Edward survived, albeit losing in the sinking "everything he had with him except for a comb." Click here to read more about about a son's presentation, taken from his father's letters and artifacts, and how that research turned into a book about the family's WWI near miss.

Claire Davis(left) is a graduate student at the University of Arizona, where she is pursuing her PhD in English literature. Long intrigued by classical reception and Modernism, she conducted research in the Iliad and World War I poetry at her alma mater, Samford University, and presented this research at the 2019 Classical Association of the Midwest and South Conference, and at the Howard Scholars Undergraduate Research fair at Samford. Click here to read her thoughtful essay “The instruments of Destiny: Reception of Iliad in American Great War Poetry," and learn why she concludes that "a close reading of American war poetry before and during the First World War reveals that poets and their audience also found meaning and representation in the classical tradition in works such as the Iliad."

The WW1 Centennial News Podcast is about WW1 THEN: 100 years ago this week, and it's about WW1 NOW: News and updates about the centennial and the commemoration.  Available on our web site, iTunes, Google Play, Podbean, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio on Demand.  Spotify  listen on Youtube. New - Comment and ask questions via twitter @TheWW1podcast

Episode #131
Highlights: Monumental Scale!

Host - Theo Mayer

100 Years Ago: Let Me Count The Ways - host | @02:15

A Century In The Making - Sabin Howard | @14:40

Education: NHD WWI History Award Winner - Tim Proskauer | @25:25

Articles & Posts: Weekly Dispatch - Host | @37:45

A man is only missing if he is forgotten.

Monday's MIA this week is Private Robert McClain. Born in Rome Georgia in 1898, Robert John McClain enlisted in the Georgia National Guard on 16 July, 1917 at Atlanta and was assigned to Company A, 5^th Infantry, GNG, whose duty station was Camp Wheeler, at Macon, Georgia. The year before, this unit had been federalized for duty on the Mexican Border as Company A, 122^nd Infantry. Following the declaration of war in 1917, the 122^nd had been assigned duty to the 31^st ‘Dixie Division’, which would go overseas as a replacement division in September, 1918.

By that time however, Private McClain had already sailed for France aboard the troopship Orduna on 20 June, 1918 as a member of Company #5, Camp Wheeler June Automatic Replacement Draft, which had been drawn from Camp Wheeler trainees. Ten days later he was ‘Over There’, and a week after that, having received some machine gun training while with the 122^nd, McClain was assigned to Company B, 150^th Machine Gun Battalion, 42^nd ‘Rainbow’ Division. He was with them but a short time when, on 28 July, 1918, he was killed in action, having been in France less than a month.

Private McClain is memorialized on the Tablets to the Missing at the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery at Belleau Wood. Nothing else is known about his case at this time.

Want to help shed some light on Private McClain’s case? Consider making a donation to Doughboy MIA and help us make a full accounting of the 4,423 American service personnel still listed as missing in action from WW1. Make your tax deductible donation now, with our thanks.

White Ceramic Doughboy Mug

Featuring the iconic Doughboy silhouette flanked by barbed wire so prevalent during WWI, you can enjoy your favorite beverage in this 15-ounce ceramic mug and honor the sacrifices made by U.S. soldiers.  

On December 19, 2014, Congress passed legislation designating Pershing Park in the District of Columbia as the national World War One Memorial.  A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this item are designated for building the Memorial

A Certificate of Authenticity as Official Merchandise of the United States World War One Centennial is included.

This and many other items are available as Official Merchandise of the United States World War One Centennial.

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